Participants for the LeAd NCD in deep discussion during their workshop.
KUCHING: The day before the fifth Asia Pacific Conference on Public Health was filled with meets, greets, sign up sheets, and of course, classic Sarawakian hospitality.
Delegates from Peninsular Malaysia and other countries flocked into the registration area at the third floor of Riverside Majestic Hotel, some still accompanied by their luggage.
Many were seen catching up with friends or contemporaries in the industry, while a few were seen catching their breath in a quiet corner with a revitalising cup of tea and a snack.
Organised by the College of Public Health Medicine, Academy of Medicine Malaysia, the conference centres around the theme “Realising the Sustainable Development Goals Aspirations on Health”, which is related to the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The conference proper kicks off on Sept 10 and continues to Sept 14, with a keynote address, plenary and symposium sessions, workshops and free-paper oral and poster sessions.
According to an earlier report, a total of 650 participants from Malaysia and 20 foreign countries have registered.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg is expected to launch it at the conference dinner and opening ceremony tomorrow night.
As for today, some of the delegates made good use of time by signing up for one of the complimentary pre-conference workshops available in the morning.
There were five workshops which ran concurrently – LeAd NCD, ‘Introduction to Health Risk Assessment’, ‘Getting your research published’, ‘Modelling disease outbreak’, and ‘Improving public health outcomes under the SDGs using the IRBM system’.
Those who registered early for the workshops got a brief overview of Leaders and Advocators for non-Communicable Diseases Malaysia (LeAd-NCD-MAL), learning how to publish their research findings.
In other workshops, participants explored the nitty-gritty of the Integrated Results Based Management (IRBM) system to improve public health outcomes under SDGs, and fortified their knowledge and technical capacity in the processes of environmental health risk assessment (EHRA).
Among the events to look forward to tomorrow include the keynote address by WHO Western Pacific Region Health Sector Development Director Dr Vivian Lin.
The conference is supported by the Sarawak government and Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB). Collaborators include the Health Ministry, the state Health Department and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).